Left of the Dial |
The Kingsbury Manx: The Fast Rise and Fall of the Southby Matt Barber |
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While The Kingsbury Manx doesn’t traverse the extreme highs and lows in volume and energy that its Chapel Hill, North Carolina predecessors Superchunk and Archers Of Loaf have, the consistent, inviting warmth of the group’s gentle, mellow music has its own ample charms. Manx singer/guitarist Bill Taylor has said that the title of his band’s latest record refers to the particular rhythm of life in the South, and even someone who has never resided below the Mason-Dixon Line can imagine this album being the soundtrack to sitting on the porch or swinging in a hammock in the golden glow of a Southern sunset. The Kingsbury Manx’s music is gilded at the edges with the influence of classic British-psych purveyors like Pink Floyd and The Moody Blues, but its core is solid American folk-pop and jangly roots music. Sometimes it reminds you of Simon and Garfunkel or Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, but it also fits perfectly alongside modern bands creatively mining the past like Dolorean, Grandaddy, and The Essex Green. The Fast Rise And Fall Of The South never moves too quickly. It drifts and sways with a relaxed mix of subtle but varied instrumentation. And though a fair amount of noise gets kicked up at the end of “10008” and “Ol’ Mountainsides,” that’s definitely the exception and not the rule on this record.
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Issue Navigation> Issue Index > v4n44: Permanence and Change (11/2/05) > Left of the Dial > The Kingsbury Manx: The Fast Rise and Fall of the South This Week's Issue • Artvoice Daily • Artvoice TV • Events Calendar • Classifieds |
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